China Focus: China's Communist Party membership exceeds 85 million

BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The number of Communist Party of China (CPC) members has surpassed 85 million, according to latest figures from the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

The CPC had 85.13 million members at the end of 2012, according to a department statement on Sunday, one day before the 92nd anniversary of its founding.

Last year, 3.23 million people joined the CPC, the world's largest political Party -- a net increase of 2.53 million taking into account members who died or left the Party.

More than 44 percent of new members are frontline workers, such as industrial employees, farmers, herders and migrant staff.

At its birth the Party had only about 50 members and this grew to nearly 4.5 million when the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949.

Of the total party members, 20.27 million, or 23.8 percent, are women and 5.80 million, or 6.8 percent, are from ethnic minority groups, according to the statement.

In terms of occupation, farmers, herders and fishers totaling 25.35 million is the largest group, while 7.25 million Party members are industrial workers, according to the statement.

Another 7.16 million members work in Party and state agencies, and 20.20 million are managerial staff and professional technicians working in enterprises and nonprofit organizations. Students make up 2.91 million, the statement said.

More than a quarter of members are 35 years or younger and about 34.09 million have obtained degrees in higher education institutions, according to the statement.

In addition to the increasing membership, the number of the Party's grassroots organizations also grew last year.

The CPC had 4.20 million grassroots Party organs across the country at the end of 2012, an increase of 4.3 percent from a year earlier.

These grassroots organs were set up in 7,245 urban subdisctricts, 33,000 towns, 87,000 urban communities and 588,000 villages.

Party organs were established in nearly all government organs, state-owned and private enterprises, and social organizations.

The statement said the structure of the CPC's membership has been enhanced with younger and more higher-educated people joining. Also, the coverage of Party organs increased in 2012.

The Party also intensified its training efforts last year.

The CPC trained 1.48 million village Party branch secretaries and offered employment and skills training to 15.23 million members during the year.

The CPC also set up 11,000 Party organs and 456,000 service centers in order to improve the education and management of floating Party members in 2012.